I let go of his hand, and that was the last time I would ever see him. I couldn’t find Jack after I finally reached the surface. A voice was in my head that just kept saying, Swim, Rose. Swim. And that was what I did. I swam.
A piece of wreckage was floating away from the crowd, and I climbed on top, finally getting out of the freezing water. Someone nearby was blowing a whistle, probably to signal one of the lifeboats to come back and get the survivors. But all I could do was search for Jack. I called out his name, but I didn’t get a response.
What felt like hours passed, and I still saw no sign of Jack. I closed my eyes, begging the tears not to come, for I knew they’d freeze to my face. While my eyes were closed, I remembered being with Jack before everything went wrong, back when he and I were flying over the ocean, not a care or worry in the world.
I opened my eyes, half-expecting to still be in the car with Jack, hoping that all that happened was a dream. But I was wrong. I was still floating on that damned piece of the ship, listening to the silence around me. The whistle had long ago stopped, and no one was calling out anymore.
“Jack!” I called, just one last time, again without a response. Suddenly, a light was coming toward me. At first I thought it was just my imagination. Then I thought I was dying, and that this was the bright light that I’d heard of. But as it got closer, I saw that it was a lifeboat.
“Help!” I called out. “Help me!” My voice was hoarse, and they didn’t hear me. I quickly remembered the man with the whistle, and with my remaining strength, I rolled from my platform and landed in the freezing water. When I rose up, I took a gasping breath, the cold air chilling my lungs. I swam to the lifeless officer, cringing a bit as I pulled the whistle from his dead blue lips. I took in a deep, freezing breath and blew into the whistle as hard as I could.
The sound of that whistle was the most beautiful noise I had ever heard. A man on the lifeboat heard and turned the boat around, coming to my rescue.
I finally fell asleep on the floor of the lifeboat, with images of Jack going through my mind.
*****
“Rose Dawson,” I said when the gentleman asked my name. I didn’t want Cal or anyone else from my life prior to the Titanic to know I was alive. They were dead to me, anyway. Instead, I’d live the rest of my life with Jack’s last name.
“Thank you, Miss,” the gentleman said. He began to walk away, and I looked back to the Statue of Liberty. That was, until he came back. “Miss?”
I looked at him wordlessly, my eyes wide. What could he want? Had Cal or my mother described me?
“Do you, by any chance…I mean, you wouldn’t happen to know a young man named Jack, would you?” My eyebrows rose.
“Yes. Yes, I do,” I said. “But he was lost with the others…” I looked out to sea with a twinge of sadness.
“Pardon me, ma’am,” the gentleman said. “But I just spoke with him earlier; he was on the other side of the ship, asking if anyone had seen a young woman with your name…” I didn’t need to hear any more. I was off, running to the other side of the ship.
“Jack!” I called out, but I couldn’t see him. The whole place was swarmed with people doing exactly what I was doing--searching for their loved ones. But then I saw him, wrapped in a blanket and looking up at the Statue of Liberty like I had been moments before. I was on the verge of tears.
“Jack!” I called, running to him and holding him tight. He looked at me in shock before smiling and spinning me around.
“Rose! Oh, Rose,” Jack said, kissing me deeply.
“I never let go, Jack.” I smiled at him. Then I reached into my pocket and showed him what I had found. “But Cal sure did.” We both grinned at the look of the diamond.
“Figure it’ll pay for our wedding?” Jack asked, looking at in with interest but never letting go of me.
“That,” I smiled at him, “and our dozens of babies and our big house and all the adventures we want.”
“But no boats,” Jack interrupted.
“No, no boats.” I laughed, kissing him deeply.
The End.